Roller rail for industrial heating furnaces



00L 4 193?- H. H. HARRIS ET Al. 1,881,184

ROLLER RAIL FOR INDUSTRIAL HEATING FURNACES Filed Sept. 22, 1930 n IN1' I ATTORNEYS Patented Oct. 4, 1932 gUNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE HENRY H.l HARRIS, F DETROIT, MICHIGAN, rAND GEORGE C. MCCORMICK, OF NEED- HAM, IJIASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNORSTO GENERAL ALLOAYS COMPANY, OF BOSTON,

MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS ROLLER RAIL non INDUSTRIAL HEATING FURNAGES Application led September 22, 193i). Serial No. 483,430.

Our invention relatesto improvements in rollers and rails for industrial heating furnaces, for example, heat treatment furnaces such as carbonizing furnaces, in which the heavy boxes are pushed through the highly heated furnace while supported on rollers mounted to rotate in the roller rails.' The invention includes'improvements in the rolls ers and rails and in the rail mou'ntings within the furnace.

Among the objects of our invention, one is toprovide a roller which will run freely with a 'minimum ofside thrust and which is reduced in cross section between the hub and the rim, thereby assuring a sounder and better casting.

Another object is to provide bearing supports for rollers which will prevent the rollers from becoming dislodged when work is4 passed over them.

Another object is to provide a means for anchoring the rail sections, which will permit expansion of said sections and anchors during high temperatures.

With the foregoing andy related objects in View, my invention will be best understood 'from the illustrative embodiment thereof, shown in the accompanying drawing, in

` which:

Figure 'l is a section through the hearth of a furnace, showing in elevation the adj acent end parts of two rail sections with rollers mounted therein, and an anchor member Vfor connecting and supporting Vthe said rail sections, embedded in the hearth of the furnace.

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Figjl;

Fig. 8 is a detail view, partly in section, of a roller, and v Fig. 4 is -a transverse sectional view through a rail provided with a modied form of roller and bearing therefor.

We provide a plurality of tracks prefer- 'ably arranged parallel to one another-in the usual manner. Each track comprises a plurality of roller rail sections placed end to end within a furnace, with a plurality of rollers 1 mounted therein over` which rollers heat I t; treatment boxes, as for example carbonizing boxes, are passed. Plates or other shapes being heat treated may be put through the furnace, traveling over said rollers if desired. This system is well known in the art, but our invention comprisesseveral inferred features,

including a means for positively anchoring tially U-shaped, having preferably iiattened bases l2 and vertical side walls 14. Angular slots 16 are formed in the upper portions of the vertical walls 14, the angle at'which the slots are formed being such that the open or entering ends of the slots are substantially opposed to the direction of the moving Work, and said slots are adapted, to receive yand provide the bearings for pintles 17 of 1 rollers 18. Heretofore the slots for this purpose have been made vertical and were found to be. unsatisfactory because there was a tendency for rollersto jump their bearings, when encountered by the work during its progress through the furnace. With the slots on an angle, one corner 20 overlaps the pintles and prevents same from jumping.

1n a long furnace each roll comprises rail sections placed end to end with suficient space between their adjacent ends to permit expansion, and secured to an anchoring member 22, which is embedded in the hearth of a furnace. rllhe anchoring member of our" invention comprises a pair of vertically disposed legs 24 joined at the top by a bridging piece 26, having flanges 28 projecting upward therefrom and perpendicular thereto, forming a yoke`29, said anchor also having two feet 30 projecting outwardly at right angles fromthe lower portion of the legs 24.

Each of the flanges 28 of yoke 29 has an elongated slot 32 anda hole 34 which register respectively with holes 36 and 38 in walls 14 of the adjacentr Aends of the; rail 'sections as 10, 10".V The ancho-ring Ynnembers 212 are built into the furnacehearthwithy the bridging piece 26 inserted in the floor with its top flush with the floor, to permit the bottom of the rail sections, supported at their ends on bridging-piece-26, to lie flat on the floor bed.V

Under each. foot member of the Ianchor-- ing members 22 we place a shim of vcombustible material 40, such as cardboard or the like, which Will disintegrate when thefirstl heat is applied in the furnace, the purpose of such shim being Vto provide lal-s'upportA for thel anchor duringV erection, and upon destruction thereof by application of heat,

to provide a clearancejand leave the legs 24 Y free Vto expand under high temperatures,`

without distortion or raising and Vdislodging `the bridging piece with attached railsat the j oints() After the anchor members 22 l are embedded in the furnace floor, track rail sections as'10f,"10b are set in place end to end, ywith the abutting ends thereof lying in the trough of yoke 29 between flanges 28,28,

the holes 36in an end of the'rail sectionl()a registering with the elongated slots 32 in the Y anchor nanges 28, while the holes 38 in the otherend of the adjoining' rail sections l0b 1 .register with holes 34in the anchor flanges 28.'k Pins 42 are inserted in the said registering openings 32, 36 and 34, 38 to secure the said rails 10 to the anchor members 22.

It will be understood thatv the successive joints are formed in the same way, each of` thejrail sections having a round hole 34 at one' endand an elongated slot'32rat its opposite end. `A'clearance space is left at 43 between the ends of the cold rails and pins Y 42 are initially at the 4end of slots 32 furthest from holes 34 to allow the rails to expand in the direction o-f Work travel. lWhen the rails expand, due to the high temperatures, the rail ends with pins 42 in the slots 32 are adapted to moveV the distance of expansion without distorting said rails and return to normal length when cooled, thereby retaining rail alignmentV and anchoring Vmember location under all temperature conditions.

vrlhe rollers 18 which form a part of our invention are constructed in such a way as to reduce vfriction by preventing` the side of the roller rims from rubbing against the rails.

Each roller 18 (Figs. l, 2 and 3) comprises Y arim 44, a hub 46, pintles 17 projecting beyondv each side of thehub, and a web 48 joining said hub and rim.v To prevent the sides of the roller yrims 44from rubbing *against the rails, the hub 46 is preferably made wider than the rimv 44 so= the sides of the hub will'pr'oject beyond the sides of'the roller rim. Thus the rims never contact with the rail section flanges, andthe end [thrust yis taken up'bythe faces 50 of the said hub" 46 producing very little friction as compared withthe sides of the rollers. The pintles 17 being made on a substantially conical taper, as are also the bearing parts of the rail slots, serves to further reduce bearing side thrust and 'friction i Another way to produce substantially the same result is shown in the modified form of Fig. .4, which. provides bosses; 52 to project;

inwardly froml'each side wall 14a of thel rail V10H-in the region ofbearing slots 16, and: in

such case the roller rim of the rollers 18a mayfbe thes'ame width. as the roller hub 46a', as the rimv is prevented from engaging the rail nanges :by engagement of bosses 52 with the hub 46a.

Having 'described our invention, what wel wis-h to secure by Letters Patent is set forth in the following claims, it 'being understood that our invention includes changes which may be resorted to within the scope of'our claims I l. Roller rails said rails being made inv a pluralityy of sections, means for anchoring' the sections in the furnace floor and combustible temporary supportsv for the anchoring means.

2; nouer mns for use in heantreating rufnaces comprisng substantially U-shaped rails, angular bearing slots in the sidewalls thereof and having the open ends thereof div for heat treating furnaces",

rected toward the oncoming work, rollers j mounted within said slots, and means for anchoring said rails at theirv junctures, comprising leg portions embedded in the hearth of a furnace andthe exposed upper yolreportion,

in which the rail junctures are placed, holes in 'said rail junctures registering with slots and holes in said'yoke, and pins inserted in said holes and slots to secure the rails within said yoke with one part of the juncture free to expand and contract.

4. A means for anchoringroller rails at their junctures vwithin a, furnace, comprising a yoke having vertical flanges, between which said 4rails are mounted connectingfmeans between said railandyoke adapted to permitr longitudinal rail expansion', legsfextending downwardly from said 'yoke and having feet at right angles thereto, the legs and feet emi bedded in a furnace hearth, and means for providing clearance under said feet to permit leg'exp'ansion;

5. Device asl claimed in claim-4 in which" the clearance providing means consists of combustible temporary supports.

6. A roller for use on roller rails in heat treating furnaces comprising a rim, a hub having end faces extending beyond the sides of said rim, a substantially central web thinner than the rim and connecting said rim and hub, and pintles projecting beyond each side of said hub.

7.' Roller rail apparatus for usein heat treating furnaces comprising rollers, rails adapted to support said rollers, said rollers having projecting bosses to prevent the sides of said rollers from rubbing the rails and causing friction thereagainst, and means for anchoring said rails at their junctures, said means being provided with a slip joint, permitting said supports to expand in a longitudinal direction.

8. Rails for industrial furnaces having slots therein arranged at an angle to face the movement of the work, and rollers mounted in said slots.

9. Roller rails for use in heat treating furnaces comprising a plurality of aligned rail sections, and an anchoring member embedded in the furnace floor and engaging said sections at contiguous ends thereof.

10. Roller rails for use in heat treating furnaces comprising a plurality of aligned rail sections, and anchoring means connecting said rail sections at the juncture thereof, the connection allowing relative expansion and contraction of said sections with temperature changes. Y

11. Roller rails for use in heat treating furnaces comprising a plurality of aligned rail sections, and anchoring means embedded in the furnace floor and connecting said sections at the juncture thereof, the connection allowing relative expension and contraction of said sections as the temperature varies.

12. Roller rails for use in heat treating furnaces comprising a plurality of aligned .rail sections, and anchoring means embedded in the furnace floor and connecting said sections atthe juncture thereof, said anchoring means having provision for allowing expansion thereof without dislocating said rail sections.

13. Roller rails for use in heat treating furnaces comprising a plurality of aligned rail sections, and anchoring means embedded in the furnace floor and connecting said sections to allow relative expansion and contraction thereof, said anchoring means also including provision for allowing expansion thereof without dislocating the rail sections.

14.' Roller rails for use in heat treating furnaces comprising a plurality of aligned rail sections, and an anchoring member having angular legs embedded in the furnace floor and a portion engaging said sections at the juncture thereof for retaining the same in place.

15. yRoller rails forV` use in heat treating furnaces comprising a plurality ofyaligned rail sections, and an anchoring member having angular legsl embedded inthe furnace floor and a yoke portion receiving said rail sections at the juncture thereof.

16. Roller rails for use in heat treating furnaces comprising a plurality of aligned rail sections, and an anchoring member having angular legs embedded in the furnace floor and a yoke portion receiving said rail sections at the juncture thereof, said rail sections being connected to said yoke portion to allow relative expansion and contraction of said sections.

17. Roller rails for use in heat treating furnaces comprising a plurality of aligned U-shaped rail sections, and an anchoring member embedded in the furnace floor and having yoke portion receiving the sections at the juncture thereof.

18. Roller rails for use in heat treating furnaces comprising a plurality of aligned U-shaped rail sections, and an anchoring member embedded in the furnace floor and having a yoke portion receiving the sections at the juncture thereof, the lateral walls of said yoke portion and said rail sections being connected to allow relative expansion and contraction of the rail sections.

19. Roller rails for use in heat treating furnaces comprising a plurality of aligned rail sections, and anchoring members embedded in the furnace floor and engaging said rail sections at the junctures thereof, one end of each rail section being connected to an anchoring member to prevent bodily movement of the rail section relative thereto and the other end of each rail section being free to expand and contract longitudinally relative to another anchoring member.

20. Roller rails for use in heat treating furnaces comprising a plurality of aligned rail sections, and an anchoring member embedded in the furnace floor and connected to said rail sections at the juncture thereof, one of said connections being slotted to allow longitudinal expansion of a rail section.

2l. Roller rails for use in heat treating furnaces comprising a plurality of aligned rail sections, and an anchoring member embedded in the furnace floor and connected to said rail sections at the uncture thereof, one of said connections being slotted to allow longitudinal expansion of a rail section in the direction of work travel.

22. Roller rails for use in heatptreating furnaces comprising a plurality of U-shaped rail sections and an anchoring member including leg portions embedded in the floor of the furnace and an exposed yoke portion having the base thereof iush with the furnace floor and receiving the ends of the rail sections, said rail sections being connected to lOl) Said yoke portion to :illovT relative ylongudinaleexpansion ofthe rail Sections, and said leg portions also being free'to expand Withv outdisplacing the ba'se thereof.

In testimony whereof We have signed our names hereto.V

, HENRY H. HARRIS.

.y GEooMCooRMIoH, 

